Upcoming Book Outlines Approach to Customer Strategy & Role of Chief Customer Officer
in Making Companies More Customer Focused

Author seeks further input from executive-level customer advocates

LITTLETON, Mass., Sept. 25, 2008 – The critical importance of the individual customer—the vessel by which any business either sinks or swims – is often lost in the downturns, setbacks and general volatility of the business cycle.  A new book scheduled to appear in early 2009, The Key to Customer Strategy: The Rise of the Chief Customer Officer, explores why many companies are turning to a unifying customer strategy and creating this new CCO executive position to align their sales, marketing and service operations in order to identify, acquire and retain customers more profitably.

The new book is the first full-length work by speaker, author and consultant Curtis N. Bingham, president of the Predictive Consulting Group, and will be published by HRD Press.  Bingham has been interviewing CCOs and other executive customer strategists from across the country as part of his research, but he wants to hear from more of them.  He invites anyone currently working as a customer officer, strategy officer or in a similar role to contact him at cnb-public@predictiveconsulting.com or by calling (978) 952-0047.

Few understand this CCO-driven “customer first” concept better than Bingham, who for over a decade and a half has helped companies from a broad cross-section of industries increase their customer acquisition, retention and per-customer-profitability in spite of rough waters.  "I am constantly surprised how far removed most companies are from their customers,” Bingham says. “They have no idea who their customers really are, what they want, why they actually buy, nor what customer value their company truly provides.” Consequently, Bingham says, “Marketing is guesswork, sales is inefficient, and customer service is haphazard.”

Customers don’t care about a company’s credentials, track record or industry awards, Bingham writes in an article entitled “Arrogant Marketing.” “Customers want to know if a company’s products or services are going to satisfy their needs,” he says.”  In his article “You Can’t Save Your Way to Growth,” published in CEO Refresher (http://predictiveconsulting.com/articles/CEORefresher-04-08-CantSaveYourWayToGrowth.html) he writes that customers base their purchase decisions on the attributes of a product or service that enables them to do four things: 1.) make more money, 2.) reduce costs, 3.) mitigate risks, and 4.) satisfy an emotional need.  “By understanding these Customer Purchase Drivers™,” Bingham says, “companies are able to increase customer value, loyalty, and retention while at the same time increasing customer profitability.”

According to Bingham, a customer strategy is a systematic plan of action to profitably acquire, serve and retain high-value customers that uses in-depth insight into customer segments and orchestrates the entire customer experience for maximum benefit to both the company and customer. “Everyone in the organization is ultimately responsible for the customer experience, which means that everyone contributes to the customer strategy,” Bingham says.  “However, there is nobody better suited than the CCO to drive this customer strategy.  The CCO provides the missing link among C-level peers for accountability for customers, which has a direct bearing on revenue, operational excellence and shareholder value.”

About Curtis N. Bingham

A customer strategy consultant, author, and speaker, Bingham has worked with a variety of industries including enterprise software, telecom, semiconductor, marketing automation, and publishing in addition to various non-profit organizations. 

With an MBA from Lehigh University and a Master’s in Computer Science from Brigham Young University, he has taught Demand Chain Management at Bentley College in Massachusetts and is a member of the Institute of Management Consultants.  His numerous articles have appeared in such publications and/or websites as The Handbook of Business Strategy, Destination CRM, CEO Refresher, and Sales and Marketing Excellence

For more information on Curtis Bingham or the Predictive Consulting Group, Inc., including a list of published articles and upcoming events, please visit http://www.predictiveconsulting.com or his blog at http://www.curtisbingham.com

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